Bill would protect US elections from foreign interference

Thirteen U.S. senators introduced legislation Wednesday that aims to protect American elections from foreign interference.

“The Russian government interfered in American elections in 2016, and if we don’t stop them, they and other governments are going to do it again,” Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said. “The administration refuses to do what it takes to protect our democracy, so Congress has to step up. Our bill will give voters the confidence they need that our elections are secure.”

The Protecting American Votes and Elections (PAVE) Act of 2019 would give the Department of Homeland Security the authority to set minimum cybersecurity standards for voting procedures, machines, and databases, and would ban Internet, WiFi, and cellular connections for voting machines.

The bill would provide $500 million to state and local governments for the purchase of secure ballot scanning machines and $250 million for the purchase of ballot marking devices for voters with disabilities. The bill requires paper ballots for federal elections.

Statistically rigorous “risk-limiting” audits for federal elections also would be required.

The bill implements suggestions from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The academies issued a report last year on election security and offered recommendations that ensure votes can be manually recounted.